Mothers protest in Turkish parliament

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MOTHERS whose children are on hunger strike in Turkey started a sit-in protest in Parliament today demanding to meet Ministry of Justice officials.

According to the Mesopotamia News Agency, the Peace Mothers came from Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin in Turkey’s largely Kurdish south-east.

They started their protest after the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) weekly group meeting to draw attention to the demands of the hunger strikers — an end to the isolation of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Nezahat Teke read a statement on behalf of the Peace Mothers.

“Our children will not end the hunger strike until the isolation in Imrali [Mr Ocalan’s prison] is terminated. Thirty of our children are on a death fast.

“We can receive bad news any moment now,” she said.

“We can not sit and wait for the death of our children. We are mothers. We are here for our sons and daughters. We will not leave here until our demand is met.”

The Ministry of Justice had not responded to the demands at the time the Star went to print.